Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets – 8/23/20 NBA Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets meet Sunday in game four of NBA playoff action at the AdventHealth Arena.  

The Utah Jazz look for a third straight victory to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Utah Jazz are averaging 124.3 points on 50 percent shooting and allowing 109 points on 45.1 percent shooting. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 35.7 points and 5.3 assists while Mike Conley is averaging 27 points and four assists. Rudy Gobert is the third double-digit scorer and Jordan Clarkson is grabbing 3.7 rebounds. The Utah Jazz are shooting 42.2 percent from beyond the arc and 77.3 percent from the free thitem line. The Utah Jazz are allowing 44.3 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 46 rebounds per game.

The Denver Nuggets need a bounce back performance here to even up the series at 2-2. The Denver Nuggets are averaging 109 points on 45.1 percent shooting and allowing 124.3 points on 50 percent shooting. Nikola Jokic is averaging 24 points and 8.7 rebounds while Jamal Murray is averaging 20.7 points and 6.3 assists. Michael Porter Jr. is the third double-digit scorer and Jerami Grant is grabbing 2.7 rebounds. The Denver Nuggets are shooting 44.3 percent from beyond the arc and 80.8 percent from the free thitem line. The Denver Nuggets are allowing 42.2 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 42.3 rebounds per game. 

The Nuggets are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games playing on 1 days rest, 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games as an underdog and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Jazz are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 1 days rest, 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games following a ATS win and 4-15-2 ATS in their last 21 games as a favorite. The over is 20-7-1 in Nuggets last 28 overall. The over is 7-2 in Jazz last 9 overall. The Nuggets are 1-7 ATS in the last 8 meetings in Utah.

Some would say the Denver Nuggets are still the better, deeper team in this series and you shouldn’t give up on them just yet. In a seven-game series, every game ha a life of its own and you shouldn’t let past games cloud your judgement too much. However, the Jazz have gotten whatever they’ve wanted offensively through two games, shooting 50 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from three. Donovan Mitchell has been arguably the best player in the playoffs for any team, and the return of Conley is massive. The Denver Nuggets have no chance in this series if the defense doesn’t make big strides, and we’ve seen nothing through three games that indicate an improvement.

I’ll lay the bucket with the Jazz.